Petal Pink

This is a scheduled post because I'm in China! 
(Read more about my trip to China here)

I have pinks in my nail polish collection, sure, but most are bright bold colors.  Lacking are the soft pinks that would match the pinks in my wardrobe!  I picked up this color from my local Walgreens because it was on sale but had I known it was a jelly I would have tried a different color.  I'm usually a two-coat girl but this was five coats, wow, and I still have visible nail line (VNL).  Very true to a typical jelly in the sheer color and how shiny it is.

The color was so sheer and the formula was so thin that I had a hard time seeing where the polish went as I was applying it.  As such I got it everywhere and I am still working on the clean-up at this time.

I smudged my thumb :(

This is essie's Petal Pink, all five ridiculous coats of it.

Why do most people take pictures of the nails while holding a bottle of polish in their hand?  Is it because they feel awkward holding nothing?  I have big hands and I feel awkward trying to fit a little bottle of polish in my hand.  What are your thoughts on this?

Purple Love

This is a scheduled post because I'm in China!

I like purple.  I like purple a lot.  In fact, I love purple.  That's probably why I wear the color purple more than any other color.

This is Zoya Caitlin with China Glaze Platinum Silver stamped on top using Bundle Monster's BM-207 plate.

Wild for You Pt. 2

This is a scheduled post because I'm in China!

In keeping with the nail polish theme of the week, as determined by the Polish-aholics Anonymous group on Facebook, and since today is Wednesday, and On Wednesdays We Wear Pink, this is a pink zebra manicure.  My cuticles look especially horrible in these photos.  I spent the day cleaning before I painted my nails and they're terribly dried out.  :(

I used Sally Hanson Complete Salon Manicure I Pink I Can as the base with Konad Special Polish in White stamped on top using M.A.S.H. plate m57.

Wild for You Pt. 1

This is a scheduled post because I'm in China!

The nail polish theme of the week, as determined by the Polish-aholics Anonymous group on Facebook, is Animal Print/Animals.  Not normally my thing but that's the reason I joined this group - to try nail polish designs outside of my comfort zone.  This manicure did just that and helped me to get better at stamping.

These pictures are of my right hand because it wasn't until the time I'd done 4/5ths of my left hand I had stamping with this pattern and color under control.  I started with Bundle Monster plate BM-221 but the leopard image wasn't transferring well to the stamp.  I switched to M.A.S.H. plate m57 with much better results.  Now the image that was transferring to the stamp and my nail was showing up clearly but there was a lot of nail polish on the stamp itself.  This caused several of the spots to become closed circles and smudge when I rolled the stamp across my nail.  If I gently rolled (little pressure) the stamp across the design and my nail it was able to transfer beautifully.  Too much pressure and it was smudged and dark and ugly.

I'm guessing this is a function of the engraved plate and of the Konad Special Polish in Black that I was using. I usually stamp with white, black is just too dark for me plus it's a pain to clean up!

The bad hand - my spots all smudged.

Successful Fauxnaud - I have spots!

The base color is Zoya Crystal with Konad Special Polish in Black stamped on top using M.A.S.H. plate m57.

Please be Back Ordered - I Won't be Home!

Zoya is having another promotion - this one in honor of their "insiders" (read more about it here).  I'm probably the only person who is hoping my order will be back ordered!  Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for a month-long business trip to China and no one will be at my address to receive my Zoya order until September.

Since it's ridiculously hot where I'm heading in China right now I didn't want to risk any of my bottles of polish exploding if I brought them along.  I do have some posts scheduled for while I'm away so the blog won't be completely inactive.  If you're curious about what I'm up to please feel free to check out my other blog, KB Goes for the Gold; I'll be updating it regarding my trip as long as I can get past the Chinese government firewall. Until September!

Half-Hearted Manicure

Lately I've been working a lot, more than normal.  You can read about what I've been up to on my other blog, KB goes for the Gold.  It's because of this that my attempts at more than a basic manicure end up stalled part way though.

This was my attempt at doing this to my nails.  I started off well, doing the base color and then starting with flowers on my ring finger and thumb but when I decided to paint the other nails I gave up and fell asleep.  This was the end result.

The base is Zoya Dove with Zoya Kelly and Zoya Caitlin stamped on top using M.A.S.H. plate m21.  Lovely grey colors.

Happi

I'm really amazed at how fast nails grow when they're not bitten.  In fact, it makes me very "happi"!

This is Zoya's Happi.  I love how soft and shimmery this duo-chrome color looks.

Chevrons

I love how subtle this manicure looks (from a distance, not so subtle up close).  The purple grey of Zoya Caitlin plus the silver metallic really go well together.

For this manicure I used Zoya Caitlin as the base and stamped China Glaze Platinum Silver on top using Bundle Monster plate BM-201.